Terraonion Mega SD: World’s First Sega CD ODE

Terraonion has announced the Mega SD for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive, the world’s first Sega CD Optical Drive Emulator (ODE), accomplished by means of FPGA emulation of the actual Sega CD hardware. This means that the Sega CD hardware is no longer needed, and CD games can be flashed through the Genesis’ cart slot. That should blow your mind a little.

As if a Sega CD ODE wasn’t enough, the Mega SD boasts a range of other features that will warm the heart of any retro Sega aficionado. It also acts as a region-free flash cart for cartridge based Genesis/Mega Drive, SMS (with FM sound), and 32X games, like a superpowered EverDrive.

Possibly the most impressive feat is adding Sega CD functionality to the Nomad, Sega’s handheld Genesis. Although two simple mods are required to reconnect the cart audio line and SMS functionality.

Fans of the MSU-1 hacks for Super Nintendo, which add CD quality soundtracks on real hardware, will be pleased to learn that the Mega SD has a similar feature, and Terranonion has already published a dev manual for homebrew coders and ROM hackers wishing to implement it.

According to the user manual, the Mega SD works on all three Genesis/Mega Drive revisions, Nomad, Analogue Mega Sg, and there is even the possibility of a passive ext port adapter to allow the Mega SD to plug in to the side of the Genesis for booting CD 32X combo games.

On the technical side, the Mega SD draws less power than a real Virtua Racing cart, has a beautiful color GUI, and an audio circuit overseen by the legendary FirebrandX. It supports all save types, and works as a Sega CD RAM cart, creating an individual save entry for each game.

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